The End of Summer and Other Stories
by Sky-Pirate-Tat
Summary: A collection of Gravity Falls one-shots.
1. Chapter 1

"Hey, Kid, can you -"

Stan caught himself, and grumbled. He kept forgetting that Dipper wasn't there to order around and hoped that Wendy was too busy texting to see him accidentally talking to himself. (She'd seen him, but she was trying to get out of work. She would tease him about it later.)

"Soos! I need to you hang up these signs!" he yelled upstairs, assuming the handyman was there.

"You sent Soos out to get us burritos, remember?" Wendy commented and then slapped a hand over her mouth, realizing she had blown her cover.

"Then you can hang the signs," Stan said pointedly, shoving the hammer and boards in her arms before she could make excuses.

Wendy rolled her eyes in resignation and stomped outside, leaving Stan alone in the shack. He stood there in the middle of the gift shop, the air static and silent, just as he had always wanted ever since Dipper and Mabel were dropped on his doorstep.

"Ah. Peace and quiet." He breathed in deeply, smiling smugly to himself. "I guess I'll. . . I don't know. Clean up."

Idly he straightened out the Stan bobbleheads and the t-shirt rack, and without thinking too deeply on it, turned on the old radio that only picked up what Dipper called the "lame channels." The static kept cutting into Dean Martin's voice, and that had never bothered him before, but somehow turning on the radio made everything quieter. Ten minutes after turning it on, he turned the dial back, silencing the static and Ella Fitzgerald. He surveyed the room and trudged into the house section of the shack, making a stop in the kitchen.

He paused himself in the middle of opening the fridge, preparing himself for disappointment. The kids always drank all his soda, even when he asked them to save just _one _Pitt Cola.

He was taken aback that there were still two full cases in the fridge and rubbed his eyes. Then his arms went slack, hit again with the fact that Dipper and Mabel were not there. It strangely stung that his soda was untouched and all his.

"It's all mine," he reminded himself, taking a can out of the fridge.

The two extra kitchen chairs were still parked by the table, one holding a half-eaten bag of gummy koalas. He didn't question himself when he wrapped it up nice and tight with a rubber band. Mabel would be heartbroken if she found out he threw away her candy- even if it was a year old. That is, if he watched the kids next summer.

Stan leaned back in his seat, reeling with the realization that he missed them. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He was supposed to be happy to have his home completely to himself. He never minded being alone before, and didn't even want the kids in the first place until their parents paid him three hundred dollars. The kids had been noisy, obnoxious, and the cause of many headaches. They even intervened with his plans, especially Dipper, who was talented at sticking his nose where he shouldn't. Stan had also just finished the repairs on the windows Mabel had damaged with her grappling hook. And it was nice to not be woken up in the middle of the night by twin shenanigans

Stan scratched his butt and migrated to the living room. "What I need is television to disconnect me from reality." But that too, made him miss the kids, who used to sit cross-legged on the floor beside him.

Summer had ended, and it hit him harder than he had expected. He decided to offer to watch the kids again next summer. Maybe he wouldn't charge this time... but not without haggling about it first.


	2. Chapter 2

"Blargh. No thanks."

Gideon frowned. "What is it? Your family? Rest assured, I can take care of them."

Mabel glared. "Gideon, you're a creep. The only one getting in your way is- is yourself!" Her hand rested on the door handle, ready to slam it like a trap.

"Would you make a li'l ole exception if I was. . . a vampire?"

Gideon smiled, revealing sharp eyeteeth. His red eyes gleamed, confident that Mabel would say yes. Tracking the books she checked out from the library was one of his greater plans (and for the record: not creepy).

Mabel's frown shifted and Gideon was on the edge of his li'l ole seat.

"Give me a break. You don't even sparkle."

Her eyes narrowed and she slammed the door in his face, ignoring Gideon's pleas and promises that he could sparkle for her.

Dipper looked up from his book. He had lost track of what he was reading a long time ago, keeping an eye on his sister. "Do you need me to get the broom?"

Mabel patted Dipper's head. "No. Just a lot a garlic bread. Oooh! And bread sticks! Let's order pizza!"


	3. Chapter 3

"Aren't we like, too old to be wearing costumes?" Pacifica said, holding up the Musketeer costume, raising a brow.

Dipper pointed to Mabel, who smiled widely. She clutched a scrapbook to her chest; it had 'Summerween memories with Dip and Paz' written in pretty pink cursive on the cover.

"Age is just a number," Mabel reassured. Pacifica though her mom would challenge that statement. She was only twenty and her mom was already pressuring her to get a facelift.

Pacifica removed the hanger and handed it to Dipper. "Whatever. Just don't expect me going door to door for hand-outs."

"You mean 'trick or treating'?"

"Uh, like yeah. That thing," Pacifica said, rolling her eyes, hoping they didn't figure out she was only bluffing. She didn't have a clue about Summerween.


	4. Chapter 4

Dipper cannot remember the last time he lay awake at night, staring at the ceiling, impatient to fall asleep.

It started after Mabel's Sock Rock Opera. He had started falling asleep as soon as his head touch the pillow. He thought that was a blessing, until the air in his dreams turned acrid and tasted like burning plastic. Until a large singular eye lit up the darkness, illuminating over Dipper like a spotlight.

No matter how many times it happened, no matter how much Dipper braced himself the demon was a step ahead of him, and always _always _sneaking up behind him. Dipper hated that.

At a certain point, Dipper accepted that Bill was always watching, and even if his head was full of nightmares at least he was finally sleeping.

It only became a problem when he nodded off while sweeping the gift shop of the Mystery Shack. It got worse when he passed out in increasing increments.

Dipper cannot remember the last time he was awake, he's not sure what is real anymore but Bill tells him reality is an illusion. That he's finally where he belongs.


	5. Chapter 5

It is not dark enough in Dipper's room, and that leaves too much room for imagination. It's also not light enough either; the only light is from the hallway and it's too distant for his comfort. The light and the darkness work together to create shadows in his room, and his paranoia does the rest.

"Probably shouldn't have watched that movie," he says to himself, hoping nothing is there. He's just imagining things, right? That tall slender shadow is just his action figure, and no, his toys do not have a mind of their own. They can't just walk right up to his bed and knife him. That's crazy.

He considers throwing the covers over his head but isn't sure if that would be worse, to be unaware of his surroundings. His shoulders seize up, lightning running up his spine as he hears footsteps approach him. He peers over the covers and almost screams. Almost. Mabel knocks the wind out of him when she pounces. Her crooked smile eases his nerves and he laughs awkwardly. "It's just you."

"Not just Mabel." She narrows her eyes, pretending to be serious. She pulls out one of her stuffed animals, a rabbit with soft frayed ears. "Hoppity, too." She impulsively rubs Hoppity's ears against her cheek, and then, invites herself under the covers next to him. "I'm scared," she explains, and Dipper forgets his own fear, wrapping an arm around her protectively.

The looming shadows are ignored as they whisper under the covers. Their only worry is that their parents will find them still awake past ten. They talk about everything but the movie. Eventually, Mabel's words slur and the conversation drifts, a sign that she is falling asleep, Although she is only half-awake, he feels comfort in her presence.

He tries not to think about the movie, of objects moving on their own or eyes rolled in the back of that little girl's head, crawling backwards up the ceiling. He remembers the paralyzing fear he felt watching those scenes while Mabel laughed in the background. He still couldn't figure out what was so funny about it-

He reddens. "You weren't scared at all."

"Nope."


	6. Chapter 6

Mabel stared, wide-eyed, the barrel of the gun pressed against her temple. Gideon rolled the alphabetized dial of the gun, humming cheerily to himself.

"You have no one to blame but yourself, Sugarpie," he explained and she knew he was wrong. She squirmed against the rope tied tight on her wrists, cutting off circulation. Her hands were growing numb and her fingertips tingled. She itched to wrench the gun from his li'l ole hands.

"Please don't do this," she could only plead, unable to free herself, her grappling hook hanging on the waistband of Gideon's pants.

"You leave me no choice. It's the only thing in the way of _us_."

The gun hummed as it charged, electricity channeling into the bulbous end, and it felt like her brain was vibrating in her skull.

In bright luminous letters on the side, there was one word:

_Family_.


End file.
